Preindexed connector construction



July 2, 1963 e. H. FEUSTEL ETAL 3,096,135

PREINDEXED CONNECTOR CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 30. 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS 6590/99 fl/Za/sfe/ BY 4/W/7 flaw/0 A TT RNEYS July 2, 1963 a. H. FEUSTEL ETAL 3,096,135

PREINDEXED CONNECTOR CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 30. 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TORS Qea/pe @4/6/9/ BY 4/14/7 Ear/00 United States Patent 3,096,135 PREINDEXED CONNECTGR CDNS'IRUQCTIQN George H. Feustel, Chicago, and Alvin R. Burton, Northbrook, ILL, assignors to The Pyle-National Company, Chicago, ill., a corporation of New Jersey Fiied Jan. 30, 1961, Ser. No. 85,739 8 Claims. (Cl. 339186) This invention relates generally to electrical connectors and more particularly to a connector utilizing a section to accept the insulation and contact unit which is relatively rotatable within the outer shell and adjusted to any one of a plurality of angular positions so that as many receptacles as there are plural angle positions may be provided which are identical insofar as structure is concerned, but which can be mounted in line with assurance that each separately preindexed connector will be properly mated with properly keyed male and female parts.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved connector assembly wherein plural prepaired receptacle parts may be provided which are constructed of identical structural parts but wherein the male and female parts can be mounted in line with assurance that each is mated only with a properly keyed part.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a preindexed connector.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an improved connector structure wherein the insulation and contact unit is polarized into a definite relationship with the keys which polarize the male shell and female housing and wherein the indexing relationship may be preadjusted.

Many other advantages, features and additional objects of the present invention will become manifest upon making reference to the detailed description which follows and the accompanying sheet of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment of a connector embodying the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.

On the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view with parts broken away and with parts shown in cross-section illustrating a connector embodying the principles of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 but showing on somewhat reduced scale additonal details of the male shell; 1

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 but showing additional details of construction of the female housing;

FIGURE 4 is an end elevational view of the part shown in FIGURE 3;

:FIGURES 5, 6 and 7 are views of difierent types of in sulation and contact units which can be interchangeably substituted into the connector assembly of 'FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 8 is a view of the sleeve member utilized in the connector according to the principles of the present invention.

As shown on the drawings:

In the connector art, it is standard practice to polarize the insulation and contact unit in a definite relationship with the keys which polarize the male shell and the female housing. This is generally accomplished by putting a key in the housing which matches a milled or molded keyway in the insulation. It is also standard practice to make the pin layout in such a manner that a multiplicity of keyways can be put in the insulation in such locations that similar units with diflerent key locations cannot be plugged with any unit except the one for which it is intended.

With such standard arrangement, however, it is neces- 3,69%,135 Patented July 2, 1963 "ice sary to provide as many different structural connectors as is desired to provide separate mating relationships.

According to the present invention, a sleeve '10 is provided which functions as the part accepting the insulation and contact unit of either the male shell or the female housing. The sleeve 10 can be rotated within the outer shell. The rotatable part 10 is provided with a plurality of circumferentially spaced holes 11 in the peripheral wall thereof. The outer shell is equipped with a suitable indeXing means to engage the holes whereby a keyed male shell and female housing may be assembled and as many receptacles as there are holes 11 may be provided with different pre-pairing arrangements for in-line mounting between male and female parts which are properly keyed.

In FIGURES 1, 2 and 3, a typical male shell is shown at 12 and comprises a generally sleeve-like shell member embossed as at 13 to form a polarizing key 1-4 functioning as a keyway means or indexing means.

The male shell 12 also has an annular peripheral shoulder .16 and spaced therefrom is an annular recess 17 in which is located a snap ring 18, thereby to retain a locking collar 19 which is internally threaded as at 20 in association with the male shell 12.

The rotatable sleeve part 10 has an annular recess 21 inwardly of one end and the male shell is provided with a corresponding annular recess 22 so that a snap ring 23 can be received in common in both the recesses 21 and 22, thereby to lock the part 10 with the part 12 in corotatable partially telescoped assembly.

Adjacent the opposite end of the part :10 there is provided a threaded portion 24 which threadedly engages a collar 25 having a knurled portion 27 on the exterior surface thereof. The collar 26 has an inwardly directed shoulder :28 which engages an insert ring 29. Exteriorly 'of the insert ring 29 and engaging against the shoulder '28 is a sealing ring 30. The sealing ring also engages against an end face 31 formed on the part 10.

As shown in FIGURE 1, the part 10 carries an insula .tion and contact unit. In this connection, the part 10 has an inwardly directed shoulder 32 formed at one end inwardly of the recess 21 and against which engages a sealing member 33. An outwardly directed shoulder 34 formed on a contact carrier 36 is received within the part 16' and the shoulder 34 engages against the sealing mem ber 33.

A flexible disk-like member made of silicon rubber or the like is shown at 37 and is not only snugly received within the part .10 but engages against an end wall 38 formed on the carrier 36.

On the opposite side of the flexible disk 37 there is provided a rigid disk 39 which is also received within the part 10 and which is provided with a shoulder 40 engaged by the insert ring 29. Thus, when the collar 26 is drawn up by threading on the threads 24 of the part :10, the rigid disk 39 will clamp against the flexible disk 37, thereby engaging the disk 37 against the shoulder 38 and locldng the carrier 36 against the shoulder 32 via the sealing member 33.

The flexible disk 37 has a plurality of through apertures 41 formed therein each of which receives a contact member shown generally at 4.2. The contact member has a recess 43 for connection to a suitable conductor wire. The carrier 36 has a corresponding plurality of openings 44 formed therein, each opening 44 being counterbored as at 46, thereby to receive a contact portion 47 of the connector member 42.

The rigid portions of the insulation and contact unit are keyed to the rotatable sleeve or part 10. For example, the rigid disk 39 and the carrier member 36 are both keyed to the sleeve 10 by providing a key and keyway therebetween, or by providing suitable detent means therebetween such as an embossed dimple in the sleeve 10 engaging a 7 corresponding recess in the rigid disk 39 and the carrier member 35. Thus, the insulation and contact unit is locked for corotation with the sleeve or rotatable part It and may be angularly adjusted relative to the corresponding shell 12.

At an end portion of the shell 12, there is provided a threaded aperture 49 in which is received a correspondingly threaded bushing 50. The bushing 50 has an end Wall '51 apertured to pass a pin 52. A coil spring 53 is bottomed against the wall 51 and has its opposite end bottomed against a flanged shoulder 54 formed on the pin 52. An apertured wall 56 passes the end of the pin 52 but engages the flange 54. Accordingly, the pin 52, together with the bushing 50, for-ms a spring-pressed dowel pin for engaging the holes 11 formed in the sleeve or rotatable part It).

As shown in FIGURE 8, the sleeve or rotatable part '19 can be provided with many difierent holes 11 and the sleeve is also provided with an outwardly projecting annular shoulder 57 hearing suitable indicia identification portion 61 is externally threaded as at 63 to threadedly en- 0 gage with the threaded portion 2a of the collar 19'. The

female housing 6% has a rotatable part it) identical in structure with the part it already described in connection with the male shell 12 and, accordingly, like reference numerals have been applied to like parts.

The contact carriers may be provided for any number of contacts desired. For example, in FIGURE 5 there is shown a cont-act carrier A having four No. 1/0 contact openings 66, while inFIGURE 6 there is shown a contact carrier B having thirty-seven No. -12. contact openings 67. In FIGURE 7 there is shown a contact carrier C having seven No. '10 contact openings '68, twenty No. 12 contact openings 69 and ten No. 18 contact openings 70. Each of the contact carriers A, B and C have formed in the outer peripheries thereof a suitable indexing means, as shown at 71 to iacilitate keying thereof to the adjoiningwall of a corresponding sleeve or rotatable part 10.

Each dowel pin 52 is provided with a finger-manipulable handle 74 by means of which the pin 52 may be lifted against the bias of a corresponding spring 53.

By virtue of the arrangement described, it will be appr'eciated that if ten holes :11 are provided in the sleeve or rotatable part 10, as many as ten receptacles, can be provided forrnounting in line with assurance that each will only accept the properly keyed plug. All of this is accomplished with only a single construction. Accordingly, the connector can be made from stock-piled parts which are simple in construction and which are easy to assemble and all of the versatility of selective pre-pairing and'preindexing may be effected.

Although minor modifications might be suggested by those versed in the art, it should be understood that we wish toernbody within the scope of the patent warranted hereon all suchmodifications as reasonably and properly come within the scope of our contribution to the art.

We claim as our invention: 7

1.. A connector part comprising an outer shell having a key means for indexed association with a mating conhector part, a rotatable' sleeve asociated with said shell having multiple circumfenentially spaced holes, a springloaded dowel pin on said outer shell engaging said holes and an insulation and contact unit carried in said rotatable sleeve, whereby multiple pre-p-aired connectors may be provided for line connection with identically constructed parts. i

2. A connector comprising an outer shell, a sleeve having at least a portion thereof rotatably telescoped in said shell, adjustable indexing means having plural indexing positions for rotatably adjusting said sleeve to a selected angular position relative to said shell and for locking said sleeve in selected position, permanent indexing means on said shell for prealigm'ng the angular assembly relationship of said shell with a mating connector part, and a multiple cont-act assembly carried in said sleeve, whereby as many separately paired line connectors may be provided as there are plural indexing posit-ions, with identically constructed connector parts.

3. A connector comprising a male shell, a female housing, key and keyway indexing means between said shell and said housing to polarize the assembly thereof, an insulation and contact unit in said shell and in said housing, respectively, and a rotatable sleeve interposed between each said unit and the corresponding shell or housing having a plurality of circumferentially spaced holes formed therein, and pin means on said shell and on said housing engaging the holes of a corresponding sleeve to lock each corresponding sleeve in adjusted position, thereby permitting plural connectors to have plural keyway locations without requiring changes in the structure of the parts 4. A line connector comprising male and female parts each including an outer shell, an inner insulation and contact unit, and an intermediate sleeve rotatably mounted in said shell and carrying said unit, and indexing means for angularly adjusting said sleeve relative to said outer shell and for locking said sleeve in adjusted position, said outer shell having indexing means formed therein for polarized assembly of said outer shell with a mating connector part.

5. A line connector comprising male and female parts including a male shell and a female housing, each of said parts having keyway means formedtherein insuring polarized mating assembly, each of said parts having formed therein a threaded aperture in onewall, a bushing threaded into said aperture, a dowel pin carried in said bushing and having a movable stop portion extending radially inwardly of each said part, a' continuous biasing means in each said bushing loading each corresponding dowel pin inwardly, a sleeve in each said part rotatable with said part and having a plurality of circumferentially spaced holes engaged by said stop portion of a corresponding dowel pin to lock said sleeve in selected angularly adjusted positions,

and a multiple contact assembly carried in each saidsaid first shell part to polarize the housing shell parts in predetermined relation, keyway means in said second shell part to lock the insulation and contact unit thereto for corotation therewith, said first and second shell parts. including portions which are telescoped and relatively ro tatable with respect to one another, and pin and'recess means between said telescoped portions to efiect relative angular adjustment of said firstand secondparts to any one of a plurality of selected angular positions, whereby as many separately paired connectors may be provided for keyed line connection as there are plural angular positions.

7. In a connector, first and second shell parts comprising a housing shell part for matingwith another housing 1 shell part andan insulation and contact unit shell part for carrying aninsulation and contact unit, keyway means on 7 said first shell part to polarize the housing shell parts in predetermined relation, keyway means in said second shell part to lock the insulation and contact unit thereto for corotation therewith, said first and second shell parts including portions which are telescoped and relatively rotatable with respect to one another, the innermost. telescoped portion of said parts having a plurality of holes formed therein, and a spring-pressed dowel pin on the outermost telescoped portion engaging said holes for effecting relative angular adjustment of said first and second parts to any one of a plurality of selected angular positions, whereby as many separately paired connectors may be provided for keyed line connection as there are plural angular positions.

8. In 'a connector as defined in claim 7, said springpressed dowel pin comprising a bushing member threaded into the outermost portion, a spring in said bushing memher, and a pin having a finger-manipulable portion outwardly of said bushing and a shouldered part abutting.

said spring and a projecting portion for engaging the holes.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,017,597 Nava et a1 Jan. 16, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 595,195 Canada Mar. 29, 1960 71,890 France Aug. 17, 1959 614,674 Great Britain Dec. 20, 1948 816,846 Great Britain July 22, 19'59 831,884 Great Britain Apr. 6, 1960 

1. A CONNECTOR PART COMPRISING AN OUTER SHELL HAVING A KEY MEANS FOR INDEXED ASSOCIATION WITH A MATING CONNECTOR PART, A ROTATABLE SLEEVE ASOCIATED WITH SAID SHELL HAVING MULTIPLE CIRCUMFERENTIALLY SPACED HOLES, A SPRINGLOADED DOWEL PIN ON SAID OUTER SHELL ENGAGING SAID HOLES AND AN INSULATION AND CONTACT UNIT CARRIED IN SAID ROTATABLE SLEEVE, WHEREBY MULTIPLE PRE-PAIRED CONNECTORS MAY BE PROVIDED FOR LINE CONNECTION WITH IDENTICALLY CONSTRUCTED PARTS. 